an arc v cinderella story
by Crazyfanperson
Summary: The story of cinderella, in the world of arc v, starring Yuya Sakaki and featuring my OC's. After the death of his father, a great dueltainer, Yuya aspires to follow in his footsteps. Unfortunately there are a few people who are very determined to see that it doesn't happen. Is there perhaps someone who can help him out? Fruitshipping.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this story came to me in a dream one night (I get a lot of my stories that way). Cause I love yu-gi-oh arc v and I love Cinderella so I really wanted to read a combination, however when I couldn't find one I just came up with my own. I should note that I'd already decided on the characters and if you don't like who I've chosen then don't bother reading, no hate. I should also note that I had a really hard time deciding who would be good enough for the evil stepmother (or father in this case) so in the end I just made someone up, saves time. Oh and finally the characters will be known by their dubbed names as I don't watch the subbed series (subtitles give me a headache).**

 **Cinderella – Yuya Sakaki**

 **The Prince (princess) – Zuzu Boyle**

 **Mother – Yoko Sakaki**

 **Father – Yusho Sakaki**

 **Evil stepmother (stepfather) – Cánrĕn Crescent (Note: Like my other OC [his son] he is Chinese; I choose Cánrĕn as his name because it is the Chinese word for cruelty [according to the internet. Don't hate me just 'cause I decided to take German as my language]).**

 **Evil stepsisters (brothers) – Sylvio Sawatari, Varsch Crescent (my OC from shredded soul, if anyone's read that).**

 **Fairy godmother (more like friend) – Sora Perse**

Once upon a time in a place called Paradise city, there lived a young boy named Yuya Sakaki. He lived with his mother Yoko and his father Yusho. Yusho was known as the greatest dueltainer in the world and was always showing of his skills against many powerful opponents. Yuya and Yoko always went along to watch his duels, and Yuya thought they were the best thing he'd ever seen. The way his father could keep the crowd on the edge of their seats, the way it brought smiles to their faces. Yuya loved it more than anything. He wanted to be a great dueltainer to, and spent much of his time training to achieve this goal. Yusho was a great mentor to Yuya and taught him everything he knew about duelling and entertaining. He would always tell Yuya to laugh when he felt like crying, to hold his head high and smile when he felt down. Yuya lived by those words every day of his life. He was rarely ever seen without a bright smile on his face or a sparkle in his eyes. Although his eyes were never seen when he was upset, as he had a habit of placing a pair of goggles on whenever he felt down. His father gave him the goggles when he was four, they were tinted gold and a large blue star obscured the right lens. He wore them atop his head and was hardly ever seen without them. The same went for a small blue pendulum he had on a string around his neck. Another gift from his father, it represented everything he loved about duelling and always brought him good luck. At least that's what he thought…

Sadly, it didn't work well enough. For when Yuya was only seven his father grew ill and died. With his last breath, he told Yuya to keep smiling no matter what and always work hard to entertain the world. Yuya promised he would, before bursting into tears. Yoko did her best to comfort her son, despite being overcome with grief herself.

As time went by, Yoko and Yuya were able to move on with their lives. In their hearts they always missed Yusho, but knew him well enough to know he wouldn't want them dwelling on their sadness. So instead Yoko invested her time in caring for stray animals that wandered into their area; and Yuya spent his time training to be a dueltainer. He hoped to one day surpass his father as the worlds greatest dueltainer and spent many happy hours practicing his skills. He kept his promise of always smiling and never letting the world get him down, though it wasn't always easy…

"Yeah!" Yuya cheered as he won yet another duel.

"Good job Yuya." Said his opponent and long-time friend Gong. The two had known each other for years and had faced each other in so many duels they'd lost count. Their win rate was pretty much even and they knew each other's decks like they knew their own. However, what made their duels so great was the way Yuya could always come up with a fun new performance for his finishing moves. There was no doubt in Gong's mind that he'd be a great dueltainer one day.

"Yuya!"

The two boys turned around to see Yuya's mom waving from the front door of his house.

"Coming!" Yuya called back.

"Seya later then Yuya, Gong'll miss you buddy." Gong said, trapping Yuya in a bone-crushing hug. Yuya spluttered for air and flailed around for a bit until Gong released him, but he laughed it off like he did everything. He waved happily to his friend and ran back to his house. Yoko stepped out of the way of her charging son as he barrelled into the house.

"Hey mom." He greeted happily.

"Did you have a good day sweetie?" Asked Yoko, as she sat down in the living room. Yuya came to join her and told her all about his awesome duels. Yoko listened politely waiting for the right moment to cut in. Eventually Yuya had to stop for a breath and she took the opportunity to talk to him about something she'd had on her mind a lot lately.

"Yuya, honey, I've been thinking…" She tailed off, trying to think of the appropriate way to say it.

"What is it mom?"

"Well you're fourteen now and I think you need a father figure in your life again so…"

"You're getting re-married?"

"Well, that depends, how do you feel about it?"

Yuya thought for a moment. To him, no one would ever replace his dad, but on the other hand his mom deserved to he happy. He was sure he could accept a step-father, as long as he made his mother happy.

"Well mom, if it makes you happy them I'm sure it's a wonderful idea."

"Really? I'm so glad you feel that way." Yoko cried, rushing over and enveloping Yuya in a hug. He leaned into her embrace, enjoying the warm, loved feeling it gave him. Times like these, when the two showed affection for each other, were rare. Both had retreated into themselves when Yusho died, even though they hid it, even from each other. Yuya wished he and his mom spent more time together, and the thought of her spending all her time with someone else didn't greatly appeal to him. But deep in his heart he knew that it was his own fault; had he not been so distracted with his own grief he could have helped her. So if whomever she was to marry would make her happy again, Yuya was willing to try and make it work.

So a week later Yoko married Cánrĕn Crescent, and he and his two sons moved into their house. Cánrĕn was a tall man in his early thirties, with dark brown hair and eyes. Apparently he worked for the LEO corporation but that was all Yuya knew about it. The details about his first wife were a mystery too, all Yuya really knew was that he had two sons his age.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Yuya said when they arrived.

"Ah, so you're the famous Yuya, you're mother talks about you all the time." Cánrĕn said. Yuya laughed, placing a hand behind his head, suddenly feeling very modest. "It's so nice to finally meet you." Cánrĕn continued, holding out his hand. Yuya shook it warmly, offering another smile. Cánrĕn smiled also, then went over to speak with Yoko. Yuya suddenly noticed his new step-brothers getting their bags out of the back of their car.

"Oh here let me help." He offered, rushing over and taking one.

"Oh great," One of them said, dumping the bag he was carrying in Yuya's arms. He had long orange hair and dark violet eyes. His features were very chiselled and refined, making him look incredibly handsome. His eyes matched those of his father's but aside from that there was little resemblance. Yuya decided he must take after his mother.

"Yes, thank you." The other boy said, also dumping his luggage on Yuya. Yuya struggled with the weight, almost dropping the bags he'd been lumbered with. "Careful." The second boy ordered. Yuya was quite puzzled by him, he had short chocolaty brown hair with blonde bangs and sharp blue eyes. He bared no resemblance whatsoever to his father and brother. He decided to ask about it later, right now he was focused on carrying all their stuff into the house before his arms fell off.

"Don't you guys think you should give me a hand?" He asked when they got inside.

"Excuse me!" The oranged haired boy exclaimed.

"Is that anyway to treat us, your new brothers, when we've only just arrived." His brother continued.

"Oh, sorry." Yuya said, bowing politely. He wasn't sure they were right, but felt it would be smart not to get off on the wrong foot with his new step-family.

"Well then, Yuya sweetie how about you show your new brothers to their room." Yoko suggested. Cánrĕn nodded to his sons, expressing his agreement. The two of them then retired to the living room, leaving the three boys alone.

"Well what are you waiting for! Pick up our stuff and take us to our room." The orange haired boy demanded.

"Oh, um okay…" Yuya said nervously. To be honest, he hadn't expected the first thing for his new step-brothers to do to be order him around. But he promised his mom he'd make this work, so he decided to go along with it for now. "This is your room." He said, opening the door to the room his mom had selected for them.

"God, this is tiny." The brown/blonde complained.

"Sorry, it was all me had." Yuya said, setting their bags down. "Okay so, I guess now would be a time for proper introductions. I'm Yuya." He held out his hand. The two boys looked at it like it was the most disgusting thing on earth.

"I'm Varsch." The orangette said.

"And my name is Sylvio." The brunette/blonde introduced, with a little bow for emphasis.

"Pleased to meet you." Said Yuya, smiling happily.

"Yeah, sure." Varsch said uncaringly. He busied himself with his things, ignoring Yuya completely.

"Don't mind him, he's not very good at being social." Sylvio explained.

"Oh, no worries." Yuya shrugged. "So uh, how come you two look so different?"

"Oh that, well it's because we're only half brothers, we have different fathers, you see after I was born my parents divorced and then my mother remarried to Cánrĕn and had Varsch. However, she died in an accident so now my step-father has married your mother."

"Oh I'm so sorry, you know I lost my father so I can understand." Yuya looked sad for a moment, before covering it with another smile. "So we all have different dads then; guess we have something in common." Sylvio looked at him for a second, then burst out laughing. Yuya tilted his head, confused by his laughter.

"Me? Like you?" He laughed. "Look, Varsch and I are half brothers, whereas you're just our step-brother. You don't count."

"I? What?" Yuya asked, now thoroughly confused.

"What he's trying to say." Varsch cut in. "Is that we have a hard enough time sharing things with each other, we don't need someone else messing things up."

"Yeah, so do us a favour and stay out of our way." Sylvio finished, shoving Yuya rudely out the door. Yuya just stood there, staring at the door, too stunned to move. Of all the reactions he thought his new brothers would have, this was not one of them. He was sure they'd be willing to at least be friends. He sighed and went over to the pole connecting the hallway to the kitchen. He slid down it to find his mom and Cánrĕn both sat at the table.

"Hey Yuya sweetie, how are you getting along with your new brothers?" Yoko asked. Yuya was about to tell her how mean and stuck up they were, but the moment he saw the happiness on her face the words died his mouth. He hadn't seen her this happy since before his father died, he just couldn't bring himself to spoil it. So instead he told her things were great and he really liked Varsch and Sylvio. "That's wonderful." Yoko smiled, it was so bright and happy Yuya couldn't resist smiling himself.

"See, I told you they would all get along." Cánrĕn said with a smile of his own. Yoko chuckled happily and excused herself, leaving Yuya and Cánrĕn alone. As soon as she was gone, the atmosphere in the room changed immediately. Cánrĕn's former smile twisted into a scowl as he stood as walked towards Yuya. He stopped just a few inches away to look at a photo on the wall. It showed Yoko, Yusho and Yuya, looking happy and carefree. Cánrĕn's scowl deepened and he removed the picture from the wall.

"Yuya." He said, turning to the young dueltainer.

"Um, yes?"

"Do me a favour." He said, shoving the picture into Yuya's hands. "Throw this in the attic with all the other junk."

"What?" Yuya asked.

"You heard me, I want it out of sight, and when you're done with that you can put away anything else of your father's."

"But why?"

Cánrĕn sighed and bent down to meet Yuya's eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did so. "Look Yuya, your mom and I just got married and she's happy. But if she's constantly surrounded by reminders of her first husband how can she be expected to move on?" He paused for a moment, allowing Yuya to take all this in. "You must understand I have your mother's best interests at heart, if she's ever going to be happy again she needs to move on. You do want her to be happy don't you?"

"Yes of course." Said Yuya.

"Good, so you'll get rid of all your father's things?"

"Okay…?" Yuya agreed, though he didn't sound at all sure.

"Great." Cánrĕn said, ruffling Yuya's hair. He got up and exited the room, leaving Yuya alone. He stared down at the picture in his hands, nostalgia rushing over him as he recalled all the great times with his father. His new step-father wasn't like Yusho at all, but as long as he made Yoko happy, Yuya was willing to befriend the man. He hurried around the house and collected all of his father's old possessions. When his mom asked what he was up to he told her he was storing away Yusho's stuff so it wouldn't be damaged, and so Cánrĕn wouldn't feel jealous or something. Luckily, this story both convinced and satisfied Yoko. So Yuya placed all his father's belongings into the attic where no one would see them.

"Oh well," He said to himself. "At least up here they won't be damaged."

He looked down at the picture of him and his parents again, feeling tears sting his eyes. He blinked them away and smiled sadly.

"I miss you dad. I wish you were still here."

He placed a hand over the picture, as though hoping he could reach in and embrace his father once again. When his fingers brushed nothing but cold glass, he sighed heavily and placed the photo in a box.


	2. Chapter 2

It was amazing how natural things became after a few weeks. Yuya settled into a routine of avoiding his step-brothers, making idle converstation with Cánrĕn, and of course, duelling. His relationship with his mom was as strong as ever and the two still spent many happy moments together. Watching films, duelling, cooking, sometimes just talking. Cánrĕn had taken to intruding on these moments, he always claimed it was unintentional but Yuya couldn't help but feel he was doing it on purpose. Aside from that, things were going pretty well. Until one day, his mom received a message requiring her to go away for a little while.

"Do you have to leave?" Yuya asked.

"I'm afraid so, I'll be back in a few weeks don't worry. In the meantime, you can bond more with your new step-family." Yoko said, smiling excitedly.

"Um sure." Yuya replied. He wasn't at all certain about 'bonding' with his step-father and brothers, but he wanted to make his mom happy so he smiled and acted like everything was great.

"Good." Said Yoko, placing a kiss on Yuya's forehead. She then gave Cánrĕn a quick kiss on the lips and got into the taxi. Yuya was sad to see his mother go, even if it was just for a bit. He was also worried about being left alone with his step-family, he had the horrible feeling they didn't like him very much.

"Yuya." Cánrĕn called. Yuya snapped out of his daze to realise the others had already gone inside. He took one last longing look in the direction his mom had gone and then went back indoors. He was just on his way back to his room when he was stopped by Cánrĕn.

"Could you come here for a moment." He requested. Yuya nodded and joined him on the sofa. "It's about your brothers."

"What about them?"

"Well they each like to have their own space, so sharing a room has really been a struggle for them. So I've decided it's in everyone's best interest if Sylvio moved into your room."

"What?" Yuya gasped. Sylvio move into his room, but Sylvio hated him. "I'm not so sure Sylvio would enjoy sharing with me anymore than Varsch."

"Mm…" Cánrĕn placed a hand on his chin in thought. "You're probably right. I know! You can go live in the attic for a bit."

"The attic?!"

"Only temporarily," Cánrĕn assured. "Now hurry up go grab your things, I will inform my sons."

Cánrĕn got up and headed upstairs. Yuya sat where he was for a moment, stuttering in shock. He suddenly had to move into the attic just like that. Didn't he get a say in it? Apparently not, as soon as he got upstairs Sylvio and Cánrĕn came out of his room and dumped a box with some of his possessions in it.

"You may return for the rest of your stuff later." Said Cánrĕn, before slamming the door in his face. Yuya just stood there, gobsmacked. In the space of five minutes he'd been officially thrown out of his own room and sent to live in his attic. He briefly considered protesting against this treatment, but his better judgment told him it was three on one and it would only make things worse. As he began moving his things up into the attic, he pondered on why his new step-family had such a grudge against him. Could it be they were jealous of how much time his mom spent with him instead of them? Or did they resent the fact that he had to blood relation to them? Or maybe it was the way he acted? Or the way he looked? There was no way to tell really.

"I just don't understand it." He sighed, sitting down on one of the boxes that filled their attic. He scanned the room with his eyes, finding it now to be an array of old cardboard boxes with his things stacked on top. He didn't have much, just his clothes, school supplies, deck, duel disc and of course the picture of his dad. He was just taping it to the wall when he heard a soft bark and meow from beside him. He looked down to see En and Core sat at his feet.

"En, Core, how good to see you guys." He said, bending down and stroking them both. "Nice to see you guys still want me around."

Both of them barked/meowed what sounded like a positive response. Yuya smiled and laughed a little bit. Even if he was being forced to stay up here, he wouldn't let it shake his spirit, he had to keep on smiling and entertaining just like his dad taught him to.


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks passed and things set into a routine once again. Yuya would spend most of his time in, what was now his, attic, with En, Core, Watt and Kilo. Or else he was battling with Gong, usually at his family's dojo or in the park. He tried to avoid the other members of his house, and since they made him eat in his room and kept away from him at school, it wasn't difficult. Everyday that went by meant one day closer to his mom's returned. Yuya was anxious for her to get back, and hopefully let him have his room back. Plus, although he didn't admit it, he did miss her. She was the only family member that still cared about him. His step-family, for whatever reason, seemed to despise him. Just the other day he'd been washing his face in the bathroom when Varsch and Sylvio entered and shoved him out. When he hit the floor they began laughing and pointing at him before slamming the door in his face. Cánrĕn sometimes noticed when his sons pushed Yuya around but paid it no mind. Yuya didn't even bother going to him directly, he knew he wouldn't do anything. It was blatantly obvious that it was them against him, and he was losing. However, he was sure his mom would take his side, just as soon as she got home. Little did he know, she was never going to come home.

Two days before she was due back, the four of them received a message informing them that she'd been hit by a car in an unfortunate accident and had died in hospital. As soon as Cánrĕn finished reading this out, Yuya ran upstairs to his attic and wouldn't come out for hours. Cánrĕn just sat in the living room, too shaken to do anything. Sylvio wasn't sure how to feel about this, so in the end he just went to his room to think for a while. Whereas Varsch was completely indifferent about the situation and resumed his normal activities.

Up in the attic, an old photo of a once happy family was being gripped tightly in two hands as tears dripped onto it. No sobs of any kind left Yuya's throat as he cried, he allowed his tears to fall silently as he gazed upon the photo of his family. The happiness on all their faces only strengthened his pain, reminding him of the life he'd never live again. All the sadness and hurt he'd bottled up from losing his dad now mixed in with that of losing his mom and finally spilled over. There was also the fact that he was now stuck living alone with three people who hated him, he wasn't sure how he'd survive.

* * *

After a few weeks Sylvio and Varsch were still their normal selves and Cánrĕn was finally coming around. Yuya still felt slightly empty inside, but he'd returned to smiling and laughing all the time.

One day he walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and found Cánrĕn, Varsch and Sylvio all gathered in the living room discussing something.

"Ah Yuya, could you come here for a moment?" Cánrĕn asked. Yuya took a sip from his glass and joined them by the couch.

"Yeah?" He said.

"We've been going over some things and unfortunately we're a little short of money this month." Cánrĕn explained. Yuya nodded, unsure of what this had to do with him. "So we'll be going through our stuff and selling a few things to help."

"Okay, I'll go up to my room and—" Yuya started but Cánrĕn cut him off.

"Oh, no don't trouble yourself with that we'll take care of it." He nudged his sons and they went upstairs. "While we're doing that, would you mind preparing dinner for us? Thanks." He patted Yuya on the head and left before the tomato-headed boy could even open his mouth. He just stood there stuttering for a few minutes, trying to process what in the world had just happened. Make dinner for them? What was he their servant? It actually wouldn't surprise him if they did look at him that way. He shook his head in frustration and went back to the kitchen. As much as he wanted to go and try protesting against this, it was three against one and he knew it'd only land him in more trouble. So he, begrudgingly, set about making dinner for everyone.

When the three step-relations of Yuya's came downstairs they each took a seat at the table and demanded Yuya bring them some food.

"Alright, just a second." He said, bringing the food over and setting it down on the table. "Good thing mom showed me a few of her techniques."

"Mm," Cánrĕn agreed.

Yuya pulled back a chair and was about to sit down when Cánrĕn stopped him.

"Oh Yuya, we couldn't possibly ask you to eat with us at a time like this, you must go and inspect your room, we cleared out quite a bit."

"There was a lot of trash up there." Varsch jeered, he and Sylvio both snickered.

"We'll save you some, you may come back later." Cánrĕn continued.

"Oh, um, okay." Yuya stammered. He rushed up stairs, suddenly worried about what they'd decided to get rid of. He opened the door to the attic and gasped at what he saw. Everything aside from the mattress he slept on and two of the boxes was gone. He opened one box and found his clothes and in the other his school stuff. He panicked and hurried over to his mattress. He unzipped the side of it and felt around inside. Relief washed over him when his fingers brushed against the stuff he'd hidden inside. His deck and duel disc, the photo of him and his parents, as well as a few other precious items.

"At least these are safe." He sighed, zipping the mattress shut again. He decided to head back down for some food, but when he got to the kitchen his step-family had eaten everything.

"Oh, Yuya," Cánrĕn greeted. "It was delicious, thanks. In fact, we ate so much we all need to rest for a bit, you wouldn't mind cleaning up would you?"

Yuya was about to object, but the look Cánrĕn sent him made the words die in his mouth.

"I guess not." He mumbled, looking slightly defeated.

"Good," Cánrĕn said. "By the way, we did save you some food, it's on the bench."

Cánrĕn, Varsch and Sylvio all left. Yuya went over to the bench where a plate rested, on which there were two carrots, a slice of bread and a piece of chicken. He frowned sadly and sat down to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few weeks, Yuya's status in the house slowly deteriorated until he was practically a slave to his step-family. He made all the meals, did all the cleaning and anything else that needed doing. If ever he tried to resist his step-father would have him punished. It seemed he no longer cared to even pretend he liked Yuya and was more than happy to be cruel to him. Varsch liked to bully him around to and always found a way to make his jobs harder. Sylvio laughed and made fun of Yuya when Cánrĕn and Varsch picked on him, but never actually partook in his tormenting. Had Yuya actually noticed this, he probably would have found it strange, but he was far to busy. He was still in grief over the loss of his mom, but only on the inside, outside he kept a smile on his face at all times. Although there were times when it became hard…

"Good morning." He said one Saturday as the others came down. As usual he'd been up since five to begin his chores.

"Good morning?" Cánrĕn asked, threateningly.

"Sorry!" Yuya cried, realising his mistake. "Good morning master."

He felt so degraded addressing his step-father that way, but the last time he'd refused he'd been locked in the attic with no food for two days.

"That's better." Cánrĕn said, sitting down. Varsch and Sylvio did the same, the breakfast Yuya had made was already on the table. He cleaned up the kitchen while they ate, then decided to go back to his room. Unfortunately, as he was walking he tripped and one of his cards slid out of his pocket. It slid across the floor until it hit the leg of Varsch's chair. Yuya watched as he bent down to pick it up and showed it to Cánrĕn and Sylvio.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Cánrĕn asked, examining the card. Yuya scrambled to his feet and tried to snatch it back, but Varsch held it out of his reach. "A duel monsters card? Why would you need this, you don't think you've got what it takes to be a duelist do you?"

Sylvio and Varsch snickered at their father's comment.

"Yes." Yuya said. "I want to be a great dueltainer just like my dad. To keep everyone entertained."

The other three looked at him in silence for a minute, then collapsed into laughter.

"You a dueltainer?!" Sylvio cried through his laughter.

"Get real?" Varsch sneered. "The only thing entertaining about you is when you fall on your face."

"Now there's an idea." Sylvio said. "You could become a clown; you've got the look for it already."

"Yeah." Varsch added, as he and Sylvio snickered again. "You'd be like our court jester."

"Our personal fool."

"Not that you aren't already."

The three of them broke off laughing again. While Yuya had just stood still the entire time, keeping his head down and not saying a word. He peaked out behind his bangs for a moment and saw that Varsch had relaxed his hands for a moment. He saw his chance and snatched his card back. As soon as he did he dashed up the stairs while the others continued to laugh at him. He took his cards out of his pocket and slipped them back in his mattress, then settled himself on top. He tried to push the horrible blush on his cheeks back down again. He felt so embarrassed. But he knew he'd show them. He'd be a great dueltainer, they'd see. Yeah, they'd see…


	5. Chapter 5

"You missed a spot." Varsch said, towering over Yuya as he scrubbed the floor.

"Where?" He asked. Varsch smirked and knocked a bag of flour off the counter, causing it to coat both the floor and Yuya in white.

"There." He said cruelly, before he and Sylvio burst out laughing. Yuya dropped his head, doing his best to ignore the humbleness and embarrassment he was feeling. He felt he should be use to their constant belittling by now, it happened almost all the time, whether he was a school or home, they always found a way to bully him. Although they had to be subtler at school, if Gong caught them poking fun at Yuya they were in big trouble. It made Yuya happy to know there were still people on his side, it made things a bit more bearable. However, at home Yuya was at the mercy of his step-family.

"Yuya!" Cánrĕn cried from his room.

"Coming!" Yuya called back, just as he finished dusting the last bit of flour from his dustpan into the bin. Unfortunately, there were still a few smudges on his face that he'd failed to wipe away, and in the absence of a mirror he was oblivious to their presence. He rushed into Cánrĕn's room, to find his step-father sat at his desk working on his computer. "You called master." Yuya bowed, something he was also forced into doing.

"Yes Yuya." He replied, not even looking up. "I told you to clean my room this morning, it's now one o'clock and you've only just set foot in here. What is more I had to ask you."

"I'm sorry, I had to finish the bathroom and the kitchen and then Varsch and Sylvio decided to—" Yuya tried to explain, but a loud bang interrupted him. He looked over at Cánrĕn to see he'd slammed his fist on the desk and had a small vein pulsing in his forehead.

"Don't you dare blame my sons for your incompetence!" He thundered. Yuya just stood rooted to the spot, too nervous to speak. "You are responsible for getting your work done, and if you can't do it then you will be punished for it am I making myself clear!"

"Yes master." Yuya squeaked, bowing his head. He remembered all too well what it was like to be punished by his step-father and was determined not to let it happen again. So as soon as Cánrĕn went back to his work Yuya set about finishing his chores at double time.

"Father!"

"Dad!"

Varsch and Sylvio cried, rushing into the room.

"What is it?" Cánrĕn asked, his tone suddenly softer.

"A letter came from the LEO corporation, and it's addressed to all of us." Sylvio said, as Varsch handed Cánrĕn the letter. At the mention of it being for all of them Yuya suddenly grew interested. Cánrĕn ripped the letter open and read the contents aloud.

"Dear Cánrĕn Crescent, Varsch Crescent, Sylvio Sawatari and Yuya Sakaki. The Leo corporation will be hosting a duelling tournament on the following Saturday and anyone is welcome to enter. The winner will have the honour of challenging the current champion for his title. We wish you luck and hope to see you there."

At the news, Sylvio and Varsch grew ecstatic, each proclaiming they would be the winner.

"And I can enter to!" Yuya said happily, already planning the awesome performance he would give. His announcement halted his step-brother's celebration. They both started roaring with laughter, while Cánrĕn looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"You enter?!" Sylvio cried.

"You have to be joking." Varsch added. "you couldn't duel if your life depended on it."

"But you've never even seen me duel." Yuya protested.

"We don't have to, we can just tell you're a loser, and besides I'm on of the most elite duellists at L.I.D, you wouldn't last two seconds in a duel with me, let alone a tournament of all the top ranked duellists."

Yuya huffed angrily at the remark. "I'll have you know I'm a great duellist, and besides winning isn't all that important in a duel anyway. Duelling is about having fun and making people smile."

This time even Cánrĕn joined in with the laughter.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Varsch said through his laughter.

"My dad taught me that." Yuya muttered to himself. "Besides, the invitation has my name on it to, so I have a right to participate."

"Oh plea—" Sylvio began but Cánrĕn cut him off.

"Now, hold on." He stood up and walked over to Yuya. "He does have a point, and you have been working very hard lately. I'll tell you what, if you can find a deck and a duel disk and finish all your chores then you can enter."

"Really?!" Yuya cried, his head snapping up with a big smile on his face. "Thank you!"

"Hm… I still think—" Varsch began but tailed off when he turned to look at Yuya; for the first time since he'd entered he had a good view of his step-brother and it made him practically overcome with laughter. Everyone looked puzzled for a second, until Sylvio and Cánrĕn caught sight of Yuya and began laughing also.

"What's so funny!" Yuya demanded. They said nothing just kept laughing. Yuya didn't like being left out of the joke and continued to insist they tell him what they were laughing at.

"Your face!" Sylvio choked out through his laughter. Well it was an answer but if anything it made Yuya even more confused. Curiously he brought a hand up to his face and felt for anything unusual. He was surprised when his fingers brushed what felt like dust or powder. When he pulled his hand away it was stained white with flour, and he suddenly realised he'd forgotten to wash the flour off his face after Varsch had tipped it on him. A deep blush flushed over his face as he bolted from the room, leaving his step-family laughing like idiots. All though he felt pretty stupid himself, having just stood there like a confused moron while they laughed at his expense. He immediately rushed to the bathroom and washed his face clean. He paused just as he was turning the tap off again and took a good look at himself in the mirror.

 _What am I?_ He thought. _A slave or a dueltainer?_ He hoped for the latter, but he couldn't really be sure anymore. So he made a decision there and then that if he won the tournament it meant he was a dueltainer and if he didn't win… Well he was definitely going to win so there was no need to worry about that. In the meantime, he had to make sure he finished all his work, and still had time to rearrange his deck. It had to be perfect for the tournament.

As he worked he hummed happily to himself, he didn't care about it anymore, all he could think about was duelling.

Finally, it was his turn in the spotlight.


	6. Chapter 6

The day of the tournament came and Yuya worked his ass off in order to be ready in time. Luckily he didn't get much bother from his step-family. Being a high ranking employee in the LEO Corporation he had a lot to do, what with the recent tournament. As for Varsch and Sylvio they spent as much time as possible duelling each other, in preparation for tonights tournament. Yuya had been spending all his, albeit limited, free time duelling and strengthening his deck. His step-family were so wrapped up in their lives they were oblivious to the fact that he had a deck and duel disk. They assumed it had been thrown out with all his other things. So when Yuya slid down the pole that evening with a duel disk on his arm and a deck in his hand they were a little more than shocked.

"I'm ready, I finished all my chores and got my duel disk and deck right here." Yuya said, excitedly, waving his duel disk about for effect. "Me and my dad built this deck together, so it'll be like we're duelling together!"

"Father do something; we can't let him come." Varsch pleaded.

"Hmm…" Cánrĕn placed a hand to his chin in thought as he walked towards Yuya slowly, looking him over carefully. "Now, now Varsch I did say he could come if he got all his chores done, which he did. And he has got himself a deck and a duel disk." He snatched the deck from Yuya's hands.

"Huh?" Yuya yelped. Unsure what Cánrĕn was up to. He shuffled through Yuya's cards, a scowl forming on his face while he did so.

"What? You were seriously thinking of entering a tournament with trash like this?" He said.

"Trash?" Yuya gasped. "My dad helped me build this deck."

"Well, I don't know how to tell you Yuya." Cánrĕn sighed, "but your father wasn't exactly the best duellist, in fact he probably wouldn't even hold his own in a duel against my sons."

Sylvio and Varsch snickered at the comment. Yuya just looked appalled.

"Don't you dare say that. My dad was the world's greatest dueltainer!" He cried. They just laughed at what he said.

"Your father was nothing but a fool. An embarrassment to the duelling world and the last thing I'll let you do is embarrass us the same way." Cánrĕn said cruely. Then just to make certain Yuya got the message, he flug his deck into the, already burning, fireplace.

"NO!" Yuya screamed. But it was too late, he collapsed to his knees, tears welling into his eyes as he watched his cards transform into ash. "How could you do this?" He whimpered, still staring at the flames that engulfed his deck.

"I'm sorry Yuya but you left me no choice." Said Cánrĕn. "I cannot have a pathetic loser like you associated with me and my sons. You will not go to the tournament."

Yuya didn't look up, he couldn't look at his step-family's triumphant smirks. He waited until the door slammed shut and their car took off down the street before running up to the attic and diving onto his bed, sobbing into his arms.

"I'm sorry dad." He cried. "I promised I'd keep smiling but I just can't anymore."

"Aw, come on Yuya, don't be like that."

"Ah!" Yuya cried out, jumping off the mattress and spinning round to face whoever had spoken. He was surprised to see a young boy with envy green eyes and cyan hair. He was dressed up in short brown pants and a jacket a darker shade than his hair. "Who? Who are you?" Yuya asked.

"The name's Sora, I've come here to help you get into the tournament." The boy, Sora, replied.

Yuya sniffed and wiped his eyes. "It's no use, my deck's gone, I can't compete."

"Don't worry, I can take care of that." Sora replied, with a smirk. He then snapped his fingers and Yuya's cards suddenly materialised in front of his, still crisp and neat, without even a singe to the corners. It was like they hadn't been burned at all. Yuya stared at them for a moment, still unable to comprehend what had just happened. Then, after the initial shock wore off, his face contorted into the biggest smile he'd ever had. He jumped up and down, laughing in pure happiness as he clutched his cards, making extra certain they were real. Sora snickered at the sight, also reminding Yuya of his presence. Suddenly becoming aware of himself, Yuya relaxed and gave a sheepish smile to the small bluenette.

"Thank you so much." Yuya said, "This is the greatest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Sora said, waving his hand dismissively. "If you think that was great check this out." He clicked his fingers again and Yuya's cards began to glow. Then right before his eyes, some of them transformed, they now had odd looking scale signs on them, with new abilities and even new names. Yuya's duel disk also began to glow, but Yuya didn't notice anything different about it. So instead he examined his new cards, trying to figure out what the weird new symbols meant. "See, I've made them even more powerful." Sora bragged.

"How, what have you done?"

"These are pendulum cards." Sora explained. "They allow you to set the pendulum scale and summon high level monsters."

"How?"

"You'll know, don't worry, when the time comes you'll just know. Also these are special pendulum cards, because only you can use them."

Yuya's eyes widened. Cards only he could use? Was that even possible? Of course! Now the glow on his duel disk made sense, these cards would only work when used on his disk, so if someone else tried to use them they wouldn't work.

"Now, come on," Sora cried, grabbing his hand and dragging him to downstairs. "What are you still doing standing around here, the tournament starts in half an hour."

"But how will I get there?"

"You even have to ask?" Sora smirked, then just as before, with a snap of his fingers a long, black car, with a driver was parked just outside his house, in readiness to take him to the tournament. "Now, get it, hurry up, remember you only have until midnight then the magic will wear off and everything will be like it was before."

"Oh…" Yuya deflated slightly, knowing his deck would turn into ash once again. "Well, at least I'm finally getting to play in a real tournament."

Sora nodded with one of his famous smirks, and was about to tell the driver to get going when Yuya suddenly stopped him.

"Wait! My step-family, they'll see me and then I'll be in real trouble…" He tailed off, contemplating the horrible ways in which they would no doubt punish him.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that." Sora snapped his fingers again, "There now no one will be able to recognise you."

Yuya smiled and whispered a barely audible 'thank you'.

"Yeah, yeah, let's not go through all that stupid emotional stuff, just go have fun."

Sora smiled, and with the last snap of his fingers, the car took off and he disappeared.

* * *

 **Okay, so I know in the real anime Yuya needs to learn that everyone can pendulum summon, but I said that only his pendulum cards work with his duel disc, other ones can be used by anyone. Plus, there was a reason for that, I think you can probably all guess where I'm going with this.**


	7. Chapter 7

"I am so going to win this." Varsch boasted as he eyed up the rest of the competition.

"Huh, get real, I'm the only one going to be victorious here," Sylvio argued.

"Silence both of you!" Cánrĕn ordered, flicking the back of their heads. A large scowl adorned his face at seeing his sons bickering. Well, son and step-son. As a member of the LEO Corporation he had a position to uphold, he couldn't have his sons making a bad impression. They were lined up with the rest of the contestants, waiting to enter the arena and begin the tournament. Cánrĕn was just making extra sure his sons looked presentable, and their decks were at their strongest. It looked like some stiff competition and there were rumours the current champion would be competing as well. Everyone had brought their A game and were each sure they would be the winner. Well, almost everyone was thinking this. The only thing on Yuya's mind, as he rushed through the door, was, would anyone recognise him. Sora had promised no one would be able to tell it was him, but he still felt uncomfortable. Nothing about his appearance had changed, as far as he could tell. He side tracked to the bathroom on his way to the arena to get a quick look at himself. At first glance in the mirror, nothing had changed, but as he came to look more closely, he suddenly found he couldn't recognise the person in the mirror. He didn't understand it, he looked just like he always had, but it was like his mind refused to match his reflection to his face. It must be the effect of Sora's spell, he realised. It was a great relief to him now, knowing no one would be able to tell he was here. Especially Cánrĕn and the others, he couldn't imagine the look on their faces. Actually, it was quite an amusing thought, Yuya snickered lightly to himself as he walked back to the arena. As he reached the group of participating duellists he noticed a tall man with a LEO uniform collecting invitations and panicked, Cánrĕn had taken his invite.

 _I won't be able to get in!_ He realised.

"Hey, you." The ticket guy said, spotting him. "You here to compete?"

"Well, yes but I…" Yuya stammered, taking a cautious step back. "You see…" Yuya sighed, prepared to explain his situation, slipping his hands into his pockets as he slumped in defeat. He suddenly felt his fingers brush against something in his right pocket. Curiously he pulled it out, revealing a white envelope with the LEO seal stamped in the centre. The ticket man snatched the envelope from his fingers and ripped it open to examine the contents.

"Alright, checks out, head over with the others." He said, pointing the other duellists. Yuya didn't move. He just stood rooted to the spot with his mouth hanging open. How in the world had that ticket appeared there? He didn't have one. And there wasn't anyone who could have…

 _Oh…_ He suddenly realised. Sora must have put it there for him. A soft smile graced his lips.

 _Thanks for everything Sora, I only wish I could repay you somehow._

He shook his head and took off to join the other contestants. He was in such a rush he didn't pay attention to his surroundings and ended up ploughing right into someone, knocking them both down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." He apologised, hoping the other person wasn't too mad.

"Don't worry about it." They replied. Yuya noticed they had a rather scratchy voice, but somehow their tone was still calm and friendly. "Would you like a hand?" The voice said as a hand appeared in front of Yuya's face. He took it gratefully and got up to look at the person he'd bumped into. Both teens gasped and stepped away from each other when they actually saw the other. They were almost identical.

"You-you-y-you look just like me." Yuya stuttered, mouth hanging open.

"And you look like me." The other boy said, eyes skimming Yuya over and over again as if making certain his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. When it got right down to it, there were slight difference's the two could see. Yuya was much skinnier than the other teen, and his hair was flattened against his head while the others flared out to the right and was black and purple rather than green and red. He also had light grey eyes, very different from Yuya's vivid red ones. Though aside from that, the two shared the same physical features. It was really quite extraordinary.

"How? How is this-" Yuya began, but the other boy cut him off.

"I- I have to go." He stammered, looking extremely worried about something. He stepped round Yuya and began to hurry off but stopped when Yuya called after him.

"Wait!" Yuya cried out. "At least tell me your name."

"It's Yuto." The other boy said, looking back briefly, before continuing his frantic dash down the hall.

"Yuto…" Yuya murmured. The name sounded familiar somehow, but that was impossible.

"Attention all participants in the LID duel monsters' championship. Could you please make your way to the main duel field as we decide the first round match-ups."

"Oh, I better hurry or I'll be late." Yuya cried, running towards the duel field. He got onto the platform just as it began the ascent into the arena. Within moments, he was surrounded by blinding lights and the most cacophonous crowd he'd ever heard. He was sure they'd break his eardrums they were cheering so loudly.

"Welcome one and all to the LID duel monsters' championship. The duelists you see before you will be battling it out in one-on-one duels to decide the best duelist in our entire city."

The stadium was flooded with cheers and screams from the crowd. Yuya smiled and shut his eyes, listening to the roar of the crowd. It was wonderful. This must have been what his dad felt when he duelled. No wonder he loved it so much.

"Now, our first duel will be between Sylvio Sawatari and …"

 _What the…_ Yuya thought, he'd heard his name spoken, but at the same time it didn't sound like it, as if he was unable to match his name to his face. His eyes widened as he realised it was more of Sora's magic at work. _Wow when he said no one would recognise me, he really meant it._

"Duelist's please take your positions." The announcer said.

Yuya and Sylvio both went to each side of the duel field and switched on their duel discs.

"Hey, good luck!" Yuya cried, waving at Sylvio, who scoffed arrogantly.

"You'll be the one needing luck." He said, and with that their duel began.

 _(not gonna bore people with the details here, just think of their second duel, you know the good one where they finally made friends, except Sylvio doesn't pendulum summon and when Yuya does it's for the first time and really shocks people. I'll give you some key_ scenes _though.)_

"Ahh…" Sylvio cried as he was blasted back by his opponent's attack. This duel was not really going his way, and it made his blood boil. How dare this mysterious clown make such a fool out of him. There was something familiar about him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it…

"Thank you, thank you." The mystery duelist laughed happily, waving both hands at the cheering crowd. Sylvio watched him carefully and suddenly he remembered why it was so familiar.

 _Flashback_

 _Sylvio was walking home from his training at_ LID _when he suddenly heard the sound of a duel going on. He looked over to the park across the street to see none other than his step-brother Yuya, and that friend of his, Gong, having a duel. Yuya was leading at the moment, he called an attack that sent his friend sprawling on the floor and dropping his_ lifepoints _incredibly._

 _"Yeah!" Yuya cried. "Thank you, thank you." He waved to his imaginary crowd._

 _Flashback end_

As he connected the memory of Yuya with the duelist he faced now, the spell over him was broken and he was able to see it was Yuya he was facing.

 _But how… How did I not recognise him?_ He thought. Well _, it doesn't matter… once I tell father…_ His thoughts suddenly halted as a far better idea came to him. Why have his father order Yuya out so he won by default, when he could defeat Yuya and humiliate him in front of all these people. _Oh yes…_ He thought with a smirk. _That will be fun…_

 _Skip to end of duel…_

"And the winner is ….." The announcer said, once again unable to connect Yuya with his name. Sylvio was able to now, in fact he was still trying to figure out how he didn't before. Well would have been, if he wasn't busy being stunned about being defeated. It wasn't the kind of defeat, or duel for that matter, that he'd been expecting. It was sort of… fun. At the end he'd totally forgotten his plan to destroy Yuya, and just thought about giving his all to this duel.

"Hey, great duel." Yuya said, appearing in front of him, offering a hand. Sylvio looked at if for a moment, then surprised even himself by taking it. "You duelled well, you almost had me quite a few times there." Yuya laughed happily. Sylvio still couldn't understand why Yuya was always so cheerful and friendly, but for the first time in his life he didn't care. He felt he had learned a bit about Yuya through this duel, and found he wasn't as annoying and useless as he'd first thought.

"You too, Yuya." Sylvio said. Smirking at the shocked look on Yuya's face when he called him by name.

"How? How did-" Yuya stuttered, suddenly feeling scared. If Sylvio told Cánrĕn… He'd be dead.

"I don't know how you managed this Yuya." Sylvio said, shaking his head. "It's quite remarkable."

He then walked past him, feeling satisfied.

"Wait?" Yuya cried, rushing after him, grabbing his hand to stop him from leaving. "Are- are you going to…?"

"Tell?" Sylvio guessed. Yuya nodded, beginning to shake slightly. "No." He said simply, removing his hand from Yuya's.

"You- you're not?"

"No," Sylvio turned around, unable to look Yuya in the eye as he admitted this. "That was a fun duel, and you better win this tournament, or else I'll look even worse." He smiled, relieved to have finally been honest. With both Yuya and himself; then left before Yuya could say anything else.

Yuya stammered for a bit, then finally smiled. Suddenly not all that interested in why Sylvio had suddenly decided to be kind to him, after all, he knew the power of a good duel.


	8. note

**Okay, I'm not really feeling this story at the moment, and neither is anyone else, so I'm sure no one'll mind if I put it on hiatus for a bit I just had this idea for another story and I'm really getting into it. xx**


	9. Chapter 9

_(Gonna skip again. Yuya won the tournament, just imagine his final duel as like that big one he had in the first two episodes.)_

"Congratulations to our new champion, ….." The announcer said, censoring his name once again. Yuya waved happily from the winner's podium as the crowd cheered. Standing there among all the lights and laughter and smiles, Yuya had never felt happier. It was as if the spirit of his dad was with he, in fact, this was the closest Yuya had felt to him in years. It had been the best night of his life, and he never wanted it to end.

Of course, by this time it was getting late and Yuya knew he'd have to be leaving soon, if he wanted to be home before Cánrĕn and Varsch. He wasn't so worried about Sylvio, since it seemed he'd earned some form of respect from him.

"Now, the president of the LEO Corporation, Declan Akaba, is throwing an after party for all participants and special guests." The announcer continued.

Yuya thought over things… He shouldn't stay too long, but the others would probably be at the party soon, so he figured he could spend a bit of time there before going home.

 _The party…_

There was music and people everywhere. Dancing, laughing, eating, talking. It was the first party Yuya had been to in years and he found it to be wonderful. Never had he had so much fun before. People kept coming up to congratulate him on being the new duel champion, and ask about his mysterious pendulum cards. He found it amusing when someone he knew came up to him and acted as though they'd never met him. Thanks to Sora's magic, no one recognised him, it made Yuya somewhat sad to know he'd have to go back to being a nobody tomorrow and forget this happened. To everyone else he'd be forever known as the mystery duelist, who won the championship and then vanished without a trace. It hurt to think this wouldn't last, but deep down he was happy, to have lived his dream, even for one night.

 _Else while…_

"Are you sure?"

"Yes it was definitely him."

"No way… After all this time…"

Yuto was telling Yugo and Yuri, his brothers, about his encounter with the strange tomato-haired boy from earlier.

"It had to be Yuya." Yuto insisted, but the others thought it sounded too good to be true.

"Come on, we haven't seen Yuya since he was a baby." Yugo said.

"Yeah, but he does live in this city, and loves duelling I don't see why he wouldn't be here." Yuri added. The three of them exchanged looks for a few minutes, contemplating everything.

"Well if it was Yuya, we had better find him." Yugo said.

"Okay, we'll split up." Yuto said. They all nodded and parted ways.

Yuya gasped in air as he got out onto the balcony. It was getting far too hot and loud inside. He needed a few minutes. He leant against the edge of the rail and looked out onto the gardens. He stood there for a while, just thinking. Mainly about how wonderful his night had been, a bit about that odd boy with a face just like his, and his step-family of course. He was so lost in thought he didn't realise he wasn't alone.

"Beautiful isn't it."

He jumped suddenly and spun around to see a young girl with short pink hair smiling cutely at him.

"Uh… Yeah." He stammered. She giggled and he couldn't help but blush, she was so adorable, though he could have sworn he'd seen her somewhere before.

"The party was too much for you too huh?" She commented, joining him at the rail.

"Yeah," He said, relaxing more. "I don't think I've ever been to a party before, it's a lot crazier than I thought it'd be."

"Never been to a party!" She gasped. "That simply won't do." She shook her head with a smile. She grabbed his hand and began leading him back inside.

"Ah… What are you doing?" Yuya asked.

"Well if you've never been to a party before, I reckon I should teach you "how to party"" She explained, making quotation marks. He laughed and placed a hand behind his head nervously.

"Okay, what do we do first?"

"Step 1: Dancing." She suddenly grabbed him by his elbow and dragged him to the middle of the dance floor, the two began dancing around, laughing happily. They looked pretty silly but they didn't care, they were just having fun. Yuya felt something special dancing with this girl, the way she moved so perfectly in time with the music, her melodious laugh, it was breathtaking. They went through about five songs before they were too out of breath to continue. They retreated to the side of the room by the food table, panting heavily, but still smiling.

"That was the most fun I've had in ages." Yuya said.

"It's only going to get better." The girl smiled. "Step 2: Food." She grabbed some of the snacks and shoved them in her mouth. "It's always important to eat as much as you can at parties, primarily because it's free." Yuya laughed, enjoying her logic. He grabbed some food himself and began wolfing it down. They pigged out at the buffet for a little while, till they were so stuffed they were sure they'd burst.

"So what's step 3?" Yuya asked.

"Step 3: Mingle." She said. "Chat with people, get to know them."

"Okay, I would like to get to know you." He said without thinking. Then blushed when he realised how it must have sounded. Fortunately, she just smiled.

"I would too."

"Okay then you go first."

"Well a name's always a good start." She giggled cutely again. Yuya was about to tell her when suddenly realised he couldn't, what if she recognised him? Then he suddenly remembered Sora's spell, how it disguised everything, even him name.

"It's …." He said, once again it sounded weird but she didn't seem to notice.

"Cool, my name is Zuzu." She said, offering her hand. Yuya gasped internally, finally realising where he knew her from. She was in his grade at school, she was one of the more popular kids because she's so sweet and beautiful. Yuya wasn't popular at all, he only had one friend at school actually, so they'd never properly met. He had heard her family owned a duel school though, one of the less known ones but his father always spoke highly of it. Yuya'd always wanted to attend it but his step-father wouldn't allow him.

"Your family owns the You Show duel school don't they?" He asked, making sure he had it right.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm surprised you've heard of us, most people haven't, the LEO institute's been outshining us for years."

"Well I really wanted to join but my stepdad wouldn't let me…" He tailed off looking down.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head and smiled at her. They chatted together for a long time after that, learning everything to know about each other, though Yuya was careful to avoid the topic of who he really was, thankfully Sora had him well protected. Thinking of Sora reminded Yuya to check on the time he gasped when he saw it was 2 minutes to midnight. If he didn't leave now he'd be recognisable again and then he'd be in big trouble.

"I have to go." He said.

"What?" Zuzu asked.

"I'm sorry, this was so much fun but I have to leave."

He rushed out of the room, calling another goodbye over his shoulder as Zuzu stood there in confusion.

"Wait!" She cried, taking off after him. Yuya ran down the steps of the building towards the car waiting for him when suddenly he stumbled slightly and his deck fell out of his pocket.

"Oh no." He said, bending down to pick them up, he had to hurry or Zuzu would catch him. He managed to get most of his cards, but stargazer and timegazer magician had slid across the floor and were now only inches from the fast approaching girl with soft pink hair. Yuya knew he'd get caught if he went back, so he reluctantly got up and kept going. He managed to clamber into the car just as Zuzu reached his fallen cards. The engine revved up and sped off into the night. Zuzu stopped as soon as it did, realising she wouldn't catch it. She sighed heavily, wondering how she'd ever find that mysterious boy again… She dropped her head sadly, feeling hopeless. Until she opened her eyes and saw the cards at her feet. She picked them up, finding them very unusual, they were unlike any cards she'd ever seen. She gasped when she realised what they were. They were the mysterious pendulum cards he'd used in the tournament. She rushed back inside to look for her father, he needed to see this…

Yuya could see the car he was in fading into nothing as they rounded the last corner to his house. Already the roof was gone and the seats he was on were becoming so translucent it was scary. The car came to a harsh stop and Yuya jumped off just as it finally faded completely, He lay on the floor in the grass, panting heavily. He looked down at himself to find he could recognise himself again. The only other part of Sora's spell was restoring his deck, but Yuya was too scared to even look at the duel disk on his arm. He didn't want to face the fact that he'd lost his precious cards forever. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, he was distracted by the sound of another car screeching across the tarmac of the road. He looked up to the see the familiar sleek silver car of his step-father and immediately bolted to the house. Thankfully it was too dark for them to have seen anything and he managed to get back into the house and up to the attic before they even got to the driveway. He released a breath as soon as he shut the latch on the attic. Glad he was finally safe. He went over to his mattress and opened it up to put his duel disk back, when he suddenly noticed something. He froze. It was impossible. There still in his duel disk, was his deck! He couldn't believe it, he almost cried out in happiness and hugged the cards to his chest.

"Thank you so much Sora." He whispered, holding them out to look at them. They were all in perfect condition and he was pleased to find that his pendulum cards were still there also. Except for timegazer and stargazer magician. How he was going to get those back was an issue. He'd had to leave them else he wouldn't have got back in time. Zuzu probably picked them up, she was right behind him when he dropped them after all…

He smiled when he thought of her. It was the first time he'd ever spoken to her, and it had been amazing. Sure he'd seen her around school, but they were in different social classes. He'd always thought she was pretty but tonight she'd looked nothing short of beautiful. Mainly because he'd more than just seen her this time. He'd spoken and danced and eaten and laughed and… Well really gotten to know her as a person. He decided he liked her. A lot. There was a spark between them he could feel it.

Wow, that sounded cheesy… He thought, shaking his head with a smile. His smile fell when he realised he wouldn't get the chance to meet with her ever again. If he did he'd have to reveal he was at the tournament and he couldn't do that. What if his step-family found out? He knew it wouldn't end well for him if they did. Suddenly a knock at his door threw him from his thoughts.

"Come in." He said, sitting up to see who it was. His trap door opened and the familiar brown/blonde hair of Sylvio came into view as his head appeared.

"This is really where you live?" He asked, looking around, having never seen Yuya's room before. Yuya nodded.

"I hope my old room is to your liking." Yuya replied sarcastically. Sylvio had the decency to blush when he was reminded Yuya had been forced to live up here and that he now lived in his old room. He climbed the rest of the ladder and entered the main room.

"Why are you here?" Yuya asked.

Sylvio looked awkward all of a sudden.

"Well several reasons, first I wanted to... uh… I won't tell the others what you did." He mumbled, embarrassed. Doing nice things for people besides himself wasn't really his thing, but Yuya had earned his respect in their duel and out of respect he meant to keep his word.

"Thank you." Yuya said, smiling. He patted the side of his mattress, inviting Sylvio to sit down with him. He did so.

"How do you sleep on this thing?" He asked, shuffling around in an attempt to get comfortable. Yuya shrugged.

"Just use to it I guess."

"Anyway…" Sylvio said, remembering why he was there. "I also wanted to know why I didn't recognise you until halfway through our duel."

Yuya froze, the blood draining from his face.

"Uh… I… That is…" He stuttered, not sure how to explain it.

"Come on… Tell me…" Sylvio teased. "Or I might have to tell…"

"No!" Yuya cried, shocking them both. "Sorry. No, no, I'll explain, though I doubt you'll believe it."

He took a deep breath and told Sylvio the whole story. About Sora and his magic. How it brought his cards back and got him to the tournament. He also told him about running into that Yuto person who looked just like him and hanging out with Zuzu.

"I know it sounds crazy…" Yuya said, then tailed off, not sure what else to say.

"Yeah, but I doubt there's any other explanation." Sylvio said, causing Yuya to fix him with an incredulous look. "Well, how else could I have not known who you were then suddenly recognised you when you weren't in a disguise or anything."

Yuya laughed.

"So…" Sylvio continued slyly. "You and Zuzu eh?"

Yuya blushed, something that didn't go unnoticed by Sylvio.

"I didn't know it was her at first. Besides, she didn't recognise me because of the spell so she won't remember anyway."

"You could just tell her."

"No, I- I can't."

"Why?"

"Firstly because she's way out of my league." Yuya sighed. "Secondly, because I'd have to reveal I was the winner of the tournament tonight, then Varsch and Cánrĕn might find out!"

"I guess you have point…" Sylvio trailed off, and they fell into silence. After just sitting and shuffling for a few minutes Sylvio checked his watch and realised it was almost midnight. "I'd better get to bed, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

They waved at each other and Sylvio disappeared through the trapdoor. Yuya lay down on his mattress and tried to fall asleep. It had been an extremely eventful day so it was no surprise he passed out almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.


	10. Chapter 10

"Yuya! Yuya!"

Said boy moaned tiredly and pushed himself up. The events of last night felt like a distant dream as he was flung back into his usual routine of quickly washing, dressing and making breakfast. He left a little for himself and brought the rest up to his step-family. He went to see Sylvio first as the two were sort of friends now.

"Good morning." He said cheerily, placing the tray of breakfast on the table by his step-brother's bed.

"Ah excellent." Sylvio said, grabbing the tray and diving right in. Yuya laughed and began to gather Slyvio's school things, with the intention of organising them for him like he did every morning, when he was stopped.

"Don't bother."

"Hmm?" Yuya hummed, looking up at his step-brother.

"I'll do that, you go serve Varsch and father, I expect they'll be upset if you keep them waiting."

"Oh, thank you." Yuya smiled, exiting the room with a bow. Sylvio smiled too, somehow Yuya's cheeriness had been annoying at first but now it was just infectious.

Varsch was throwing a fit because he had been knocked out in the second round of the tournament.

"I'm sure you'll make it further in the next tournament." Yuya said, trying to be reassuring.

"Shut up!" Varsch cried, punching Yuya in his rage. Yuya stumbled to the floor, clutching his cheek. "Get out of my sight you loser."

Yuya nodded and stumbled out the door. He delivered breakfast to Cánrĕn, who made no attempt to conceal his staring at the bruise forming on Yuya's cheek. Yuya knew he'd have a lot of questions to answer when he got to school. He sighed, mentally preparing himself for the full on freak-out he was sure his best friend would have.

"What are you still doing here go!" Cánrĕn ordered.

"Yes master." Yuya bowed, still internally cringing at the title. He left and retreated to his attic to grab his stuff. Since he got up early to cook breakfast for everyone, he liked to prepare for school at that time too so he could leave as soon as possible. Varsch and Sylvio were driven to school by Cánrĕn, while Yuya was made to walk. Fortunately, it only took fifteen minutes so he was never too late. He enjoyed the peace and quiet really. It gave him time to think. He liked to daydream about better times. Often he would slip into a world of his own where his parents were still alive and he could just spend time with them and go duel with Gong, or watch his dad's shows or eat his mom's amazing cooking. He liked being able to escape like this so he wouldn't have to worry about the miseries of his life anymore. He spent his walk to school on this particular day focused on thoughts of what it would have been like if his parents had been able to see him last night. Would they have been proud? He hoped so.

"Hey Yuya."

"Oh, morning Gong." Yuya greeted his best friend at the gates of their school. The two walked inside together which was quite a sight really considering Gong was at least twice Yuya's size, fortunately everyone was use to it.

"So did you see the tournament last night?" Gong asked, obliviously. Yuya felt a stab of nervousness at the mention of the tournament but quickly composed himself.

"No, I had to stay home to… uh… you know, clean and stuff."

Gong frowned.

"I can't stand that step-family of yours." He growled. "They need to be taught a lesson."

Yuya chuckled nervously, hoping he wasn't serious.

"You do know you can always come live with me and my father right?" Gong continued. Yuya sighed, they'd had this conversation before a number of times.

"You know your family doesn't have the room, it's hard enough for you to support the students of your dojo that stay with you."

"But Yuya, we can manage—"

"No, I'm sorry but I really can't ask this of you."

Yuya's tone let Gong know the conversation was over much to his disappointment. The two had made it to their classroom by now and proceeded to take their seats next to each other at the back. Varsch and his group of friends were already huddled over in the front left corner of the room ranting about how unfair last night's tournament was. All of them had been knocked out fairly early and naturally they weren't happy about it. Gong and Yuya proceeded to ignore them and make small talk. This went on for about five minutes until they were suddenly interrupted.

"Hey."

Yuya looked up to see Sylvio standing in front of his desk.

"May I sit here?" He asked, gesturing to the empty chair on Yuya's left.

"No." Gong said, glaring spitefully at him.

"It's alright Gong," Yuya said with a smile, "of course you can."

Sylvio smiled and sat down, dropping his stuff onto the desk.

"Have I missed something?" Gong asked.

"We've uh… Called a truce?" Yuya said uncertainly, he wasn't really sure if he and his step-brother were really friends yet.

"Yeah what he said." Sylvio said with a smile. "I guess I realised you aren't as much of a loser as I thought you were, I mean of course you still don't measure up to me but don't feel bad, nobody does."

Yuya began to laugh, for some reason he found Sylvio's constant bragging and arrogance funny. Gong rolled his eyes, still weary of the boy who'd taken part in bullying his best friend but if Yuya said the two of them were good now he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The rest of class proceeded as normal and soon it was time for lunch. Yuya and Gong would sit together on the bench under the big tree in the main yard and this time Sylvio sat with them. It was awkward at first but after Sylvio had bragged a bit and Yuya had told a few jokes the three found themselves laughing and having a good time. Things continued well between them as they ate and made small talk until a commotion on the other side of the yard caught their attention. They headed over to see Zuzu stood on top of a table addressing the crowd of students.

"Attention everyone," she said, "as you know last night's duel monsters tournament was won by a mysterious individual."

"She's so right."

"Yeah, I can't even remember what his name was."

"So weird…"

Were just some of the various murmurs spread throughout the crowd.

"Well it's my intention to find that individual and if he comes forward he'll be declared the official duel monsters champion of Paradise City," Zuzu continued, then she blushed and added shyly, "Also, if he's interested, I might go on a date with him."

That got all the boys extremely determined to prove they were the mysterious champion. Zuzu was one of the most beautiful girls in the school so naturally they all jumped at the chance to go on a date with her. Not to mention the fact that they'd be named duel monsters champion of Paradise City.

"If you want to try and prove yourself come to my family's duel school after school today." Zuzu said, then hopped down off the table.

Everyone was abuzz with conversation over her announcement. Practically the entire male population of the school all claimed to be the mysterious champion and proclaimed they'd prove themselves this afternoon. Sylvio pulled Yuya aside away from everyone else.

"Are you going then?" He asked.

"What? No I can't…" Yuya said, looking down. "I told you, if Cánrĕn finds out I was there I'll be in huge trouble, and Zuzu is way out of my league."

"Look Yuya, if you let those two push you around your whole life you'll never be happy, you have to start standing up for yourself and reveal your the champion duellist."

"You think?" Yuya asked uncertainly.

"Of course, and then when you do I can beat you and claim that title."

Yuya laughed and playfully punched him.

"Hey, what are you two chatting about?" Gong asked, joining them.

"Oh just stuff about the announcement." Sylvio said dismissively.

"Ah yes, are you going to come forward then Yuya?" Gong asked. Yuya nearly choked on air, Sylvio and Gong had to support him as he coughed in shock.

"How did you know?" He asked when he'd calmed down.

"I've been dueling against you for years, I know all your cards and entertainment moves, of course I wasn't fooled by whatever trick you were using to disguise yourself."

Yuya blushed and laughed. He then explained to Gong the same reasons he'd given to Sylvio for why he couldn't reveal himself and just like Sylvio Gong thought he was being ridiculous but neither of them could convince Yuya to come forward.

"Well, what have we here?"

The three of them turned and saw Varsch and his friends standing there.

"Since when are you friends with these losers?" He asked his brother.

"Since I got sick of jerks like you." He replied. The rest of the group stared at them in disbelief, shocked that Sylvio would want to hang around with who they thought of as losers.

"Whatever." Said Varsch. "I never liked you anyway."

He and his friends shoved both Yuya and Sylvio to the ground then quickly took off before Gong could step in. He almost went after them but decided to help his friends to their feet instead.

"What nerve." Sylvio whined. "Pushing _me_ over."

"Let's just get to class before we're late." Yuya said, heading back towards the school.

"We need to make sure he's at that competition tonight." Gong said.

"Agreed." Sylvio replied, with a nod of understanding, the two made to catch up with their friend.


End file.
